[Yr11 Information Technology] Column v Bar Charts

[Esther Andrews]

The web is not particularly enlightening, is it?!
It seems they are basically interchangeable however the following points may help you choose:

Choose a column chart if

 *
the data represents height
 *
you wish to add a trend line

You can choose a bar chart if

 *
the names of the independent variables are long (because you can put them on the vertical axis)
 *
the data is time or distance (I *think* I read that somewhere - it reminds me of a Gantt chart or a history timeline)


Esther Andrews | Admin Systems Developer, IT and Maths Teacher
Bendigo Senior Secondary College
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From: yr11it-bounces at edulists.com.au [yr11it-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Roland Gesthuizen [rgesthuizen at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2013 7:30 AM
To: Year 11 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Yr11 Information Technology] Column v Bar Charts

Speaking off the top of my head .. the convention in science is to put what you change on the x axis and what you measure on the y axis, favouring bar charts.

I suspect if you have too much data for a printed report, you can span a chart over more than one page using a portrait print mode, favouring column charts.

If students have too much time and software options, they can create a very confusing 3D chart spanning several variables with less good sense than the default.

Regards Roland

Roland Gesthuizen | eLearning Leader
Keysborough College DEECD
http://about.me/rgesthuizen

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

On 13/02/2013, at 6:06 PM, Anthony Sullivan <asullivan at tps.vic.edu.au<mailto:asullivan at tps.vic.edu.au>> wrote:

Are there situations when it is more appropriate to use a column chart compared to a bar chart and vice versa?

I do realise one is vertical and the other is horizontal but is there a particular reason why you would choose one over the other?

Aren’t they really serving the same purpose?

Anthony

Anthony  Sullivan
Head of Information Technology


T: 03 9788 7796 | F: 03 9787 7646 | Wooralla Drive, Mt. Eliza, Vic, 3930 | asullivan at tps.vic.edu.au<mailto:asullivan at tps.vic.edu.au> | www.tps.vic.edu.au<http://www.tps.vic.edu.au>


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